William e



(No Model.)

W. B. ELDRED.

FOLDING TABLE. No. 300,234. Patented June 10, 1884.

WITNESSES: IN VENTOR:

BY /6 Jil M MV/V) ATTQRNEYE I N. PETERS. Phato-Liihugnpiwr. Wash'mgkgn. 0.;

ll'NrTEn STATES PATENT Orricia- YVILL IAM E. ELDRED, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

FOLDlNG TABLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 300,234, dated June 10, 1884.

Application filed October 31, 1883.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. ELDRED, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Folding Table, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide a new improved button for folding tables for the purpose of holding the legs firmly in place when the table is erected.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of'parts, as will be hereinafter fully described, and specifically set forth in the claim. 1

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the under side of a folding table provided with my improvement. Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sec; tional view of part of the table, showing my improvement.

The legs A are united at the upper ends by a cross-piece, B, secured to the outer surfaces of the legs, and the legs are hinged to the under side of the top plate, 0, of the table in in some suitable manner.

Between the legs a strip, D, is secured to the under side of the plate 0.

To the strip D, and to a strip or eleat, E, secured to the under side of the plate, and also parallel with the strip D,a button, F, is pivoted, which is provided with pivots a, passing into apertures in the adjoining surfaces of the strip D and the cleat E. The buttonF has the end adjoining the cheat E beveled, and the adjoining surface of the c-ieat E is beveled. A recess, G, is formed in the strip, into which recess the button can be folded. The rear end of the recess G forms a shoulder, G, against which the button strikes when turned to a perpendicular position, to limit its movement. The legs are swung down, and then the buttons are swung down, and the beveled surfaces of the buttons and the cleat'work on each other, whereby the button will be moved in the di- (No-model.)

rection of its length toward the strip or crosspiece 13, and will be pressed against the same, whereby the upper edge of the cross-piece B is pressed against the under surface of the strip D, and thus the legs will be wedged and held firmly in place. The button must have a slight play in the direction of its length. The button is provided with a notch, 22, for receiving the finger to swing down the button. I am aware that a table has been heretofore constructed in which the legs were hinged to a transverse bar on the under side of the top, and that said legs were held in position when open by a button pivoted to the inner faces of said transverse bar and a transverse elect, the lower edge of said button contacting with a central cross-piece on the legs, and being limited to a vertical swing by a metallic stopsocket on said central cross-piece; also, that a table-leaf has been supported by a horizon tally-swinging springlever thereon engaging a stop on the under side of the table-top, the engaging faces of the lever and stop being beveled, in order that they may readily err gage, and I do not desire to claim any such constructions, broadly, as of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isa In a folding table, the combination, with the top 0, transverse bar D, recessed at G to form a shouldcr,G, legs A, pivoted to said bar, cross-piece'B, connecting the legs, and a beveled transverse cleat, E, on the under side ofthe top, and parallel with cross-piece D, of the button F, pivoted to the cross-piece D near the shoulder G and to the cleat E, as shown, the edge of the button next to the said -bev eled cleat being also beveled, whereby the button will bind between the cross-piece B and cleat E to hold the legs in place and be prevented from swinging too far back by the said shoulder, substantially as set forth.

lVILLlAllf ELDRED. lVitnesses:

Oscar: F. GUNZ, C. SEDG-WIGK. 

